Abstract

This study evaluates whether the implementation of law 21,331 on mental health (MH) affected financing in Chile’s private health-care system. The effects of effective financial coverage and the acceptance rate of sick leaves are analyzed. The results show increased coverage in plans without coverage constraints in MH concerning those with restricted coverage; however, differences imply a lower effective coverage in MH services concerning physical health services. Regarding sick leaves, the practice of refusing and reducing sick leaves for mental disorders increased, further deepening the gap concerning other diagnostic groups. Notably, medical consultations by telemedicine have allowed significant increases in coverage, including for MH. Analyzing the differences by gender shows that there is less financial coverage for women than for men regarding MH services. Furthermore, women experience a higher proportion of rejected and reduced sick leaves than men. Law 21,331 works toward the World Health Organization recommendations in this area; however, a significant gap remains between the effective financial coverage of MH services compared to physical health services and the resolution of sick leaves for mental disorders versus other diagnostic groups.